Author Kristin Furfari, MD, finds medical decision making for unrepresented patients is fraught with challenges, given the significant vulnerability of patients who are unable to make their own preferences known.  At the 2022 Clinical Ethics Unconference in Atlanta, ethicists from different states and diverse healthcare institutions met to address the challenge and brainstorm approaches.

Furfari and Unconference participants concluded that the involvement of ethics committees is essential to support a thoughtful, transparent process in which diverse perspectives are recognized. Additionally, proxy decision makers should undergo bias education and cultural awareness training to minimize the potential contribution of harmful bias or stereotyping in the decision-making process.  Read article>>